Behind the Times (71 page)

  
1
“… supermarket of news …”: author interview, Max Frankel, 11.8.88 and 7.8.92.

  
2
“… is to experience awe …”:
Winners & Sinners
, 2.28.91. My comment after reading this was, “Aw, shucks.”

  
3
George Bush joke:
Washington Post
, 4.48.91 p. A17.

  
4
“a more with-it image”:
Time
magazine, 5.6.91. p. 44.

  
5
Dowd’s Reagan story:
New York Times
, 4.7.91. p. Al.

  
6
“… on its merits …”: author interview, Josh Mills 4.20.91.

  
7
“… going to be screwups …”: author interview, Alan Finder, 4.22.91.

  
8
“… liven up this story …”: author interview, E. R. Shipp, 4.22.92. Shipp, a black woman reporter, resigned from the
Times
in January 1993, after thirteen years.

  
9
“ideas” and “execution”: author interview, Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr., 7.9.92.

10
“Staff meeting and protests …” See various accounts, Diamond,
New York
magazine, 5.1.91. Howard Kurtz,
Washington Post
, 5.1.91,
Time
, 5.6.91,
Newsweek
, 4.29.91. James Ledbetter,
Village Voice
, 4.30.91. See also “Editors’ Note,”
New York Times
, 5.26.91, and William Glaberson, in same edition of the
Times.

11
“… never going to be the
Daily News
”: author interview, Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr., 7.8.92.

12
“to entice readers”:
presstime
, May 1991.

13
“Teddy’s Sexy Romp”: author interview, Jerry Nachman, at the time the editor of the
New York Post.
4.19.91. See also
Washington Post
, 4.18.91.

14
Brawley and Ritter stories: Diamond,
New York
, “The Brawley Fiasco” 7.18.88, also Edwin Diamond,
Columbia Journalism Review
, “The Priest, the Prostitute and the New York Press,” May/June 1990.

15
“all the reporting was the
Times
”: author interview, Nancy Nielsen, vice president of corporate communications,
Times.
Other quotes and materials from author interviews with Fox Butterfield, David Jones, and others involved in coverage.

16
Naming rape victims: The policy was explained in the
Times
editions of 4.17.91. Allan Siegal later elaborated on the episode at New York University, 10.14.92.

17
“… in a vacuum”: Allan Siegal quoted by David Kaplan,
Newsweek
4.2.90.

18
women who have prestigious jobs: Anna Quindlen, “A Mistake,”
New York Times
, 4.21.91.

19
“I go places …”: quoted by James Ledbetter,
Village Voice
, 4.30.92.

20
“… whole thing … out of control …”: author interview, Max Frankel, 7.8.92.

21
“The
Times
is an elitist paper …”: author interview, not for attribution. 4.18.92.

22
“We sensed the flexibility …” author interview, Janet Maslin, 7.24.87.

23
Richard Berke bylines: See
New York Times
, page A-12. 8.4.92.

24
“There is a single woman …”: Jane Gross,
New York Times
, 4.28.87.

25
Candidates’ questionnaire: Craig Whitney, letter dated 5.5.87. See also reply by Senator Paul Simon, dated 6.3.87, and Diamond, “Sexual Hysteria,”
New York
magazine, 6.22.87.

26
Relevant sexual conduct: Max Frankel, memo to staff, 6.18.87.

27
“If the
Times
was … slow to react …”: Robert McFadden, et al.
Outrage: The Story Behind the Tawana Brawley Hoax
,” (Bantam, 1990) pp. 148–9.

28
Appeal of Murphy Brown: See
Washington Journalism Review
, July–August 1992.

  
1
“The Marines woke me …”: quoted in
“Iphigene: My Life and the New York Times”
(Dodd, Mead & Co. 1979), p. 152.

  
2
“… executive in charge of nothing …”: See Ellis Cose, “The Press,” (William Morrow, 1989), p. 197, and Turner Catledge, My
Life and the Times
(Harper & Row, 1971), p. 281.

  
3
Reston as Punch advocate: author interview, Tom Wicker, 10.16.89.

  
4
Oakes on the environment, abortion: author interview, John B. Oakes, 11.1.91.

  
5
Punch a gamble:
Iphigene
, p. 274.

  
6
Dedication and reopening of cornerstone:
Times Talk
, in-house newsletter, March 1964.

  
7
“Where do I sign?”: See
Iphigene.
Also Gay Talese,
The Kingdom and the Power
, (World NAL 1969), and Harrison Salisbury,
Without Fear or Favor
(Times Books, 1980).

  
8
Ochs as target of criticism: Barbara Tuchman, introduction,
Iphigene
, p. xviii.

  
9
“… crème de la crème of Jewish culture …” quoted by Salisbury, p. 29.

10
Too much space for Jews: quoted by Talese, p. 168. See also
Iphigene
p. 11.

11
Times
opposed to Jewish undesirables:
Hadassah
, January 1981.

12
Not a “Jewish paper”: quoted by Catledge, p. 214. See also Leonard and Mark Silk,
The American Establishment
, (Basic Books 1980), p. 79.

13
“Jew-Arab count”: author interview, Ben Franklin, 2.14.89.

14
Israel forced changes: author interview, E. Clifton Daniel, 8.1.89.

15
Account of massacre and
Times’
reactions: Thomas Friedman,
From Beirut to Jerusalem
(Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1989), p. 166.

16
The Reids’ genteel anti-Semitism: Richard Kluger,
The Paper: The Life and Death of the New York Herald Tribune
, (Knopf, 1986), p. 388.

17
“Move up the Columbia bust …” Salisbury, p. 393.

18
“comically overstaffed”: Russell Baker,
The Good Times
(William Morrow, 1989), pp. 267 et seq.

19
Popham and the civil rights story: author interview, John Herbers, 1.19.90.

20
penurious
Magazine
pay: As a steady contributor in the 1960s, I still have my check stubs, and the memories of some mild rewrites.

21
General MacArthur six-part interview: Catledge, pp. 192 et seq.

22
No-frills paper: Catledge, p. 198–99.

23
Disorganized
Times
: author interview, James Goodale, 2.17.89.

24
Times
and facsimile technology: memoranda from
Times
Archives.

25
Sagan-Sulzberger exchange: author interview, Bruce Sagan 7.17.91, and original correspondence.

26
Times
obligation to be profitable: quoted by Leonard and Mark Silk, p. 66.

  
1
“professional … stress”: Barbara Tuchman,
Iphigene
, p. xviii.

  
2
Punch Sulzberger’s medical problems: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger, 9.10.91.

  
3
The heady
Times
: Warren Hoge interview, National Public Radio; the interviewer was Frank Darcy. I was interviewed by Darcy for the same series on the
Times’
cultural coverage. 7.11.90.

  
4
“Iphigene memoir rejected …” author interview with two different
Times
editors, on background.

  
5
“Ochs trust … and a dirty Jewish trick”: Salisbury, p. 110–11.

  
6
“They copied us …”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger 12.6.90.

  
7
The Binghams as cautionary tale: author interviews, A. O. Sulzberger and A. O. Sulzberger, Jr. For the full Bingham story, see Susan E. Tifft and Alex S. Jones,
The Patriarch: The Rise and Fall of the Bingham Dynasty
, (Summit Books, 1991).

  
8
Times
in family control “until way out there”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger. See also
Times
news accounts 9.19.86 and 2.27.90.

  
9
Jackson chided the Sulzbergers: Edward Klein, “The Kingdom and the Prince”,
Manhattan Inc.
, August 1988.

10
“… time for a change”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger, 12.6.90.

11
“a sense of dispossession”: author interview, Edward Klein, 9.15.88.

12
“I’m a journalist …”: author interview, Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. 12.7.87.

13
Franklin “embalmed”: author interview, Ben Franklin. See also Klein,
Manhattan Inc.

14
“… call me that, once”: author interview Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr.

15
Odds on the Adler-Sulzberger competition: Talese, p. 174–5.

16
Punch Sulzberger’s beavers: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger, 9.10.91.

17
“Give it, or get it”: author interview, museum board member, not for attribution.

18
“ ‘Charlie, give me a couple of million …’ ”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger, 12.6.90.

19
“Why not open it up?” quoted in John Taylor, “Party Palace,”
New York
magazine, 1.9.89, pp. 20–30.

20
“The record is boring …”: Warren Hoge, NPR interview.

  
1
Home not “pertinent”: memo, A. M. Rosenthal to Nancy Newhouse, 7.6.78.

  
2
“Area rugs … coming back”: memo, 7.10.78.

  
3
Teddy White as reader: author interview, A. M. Rosenthal, 2.3.90.

  
4
“… I have no problem expressing myself …”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger, 12.6.90.

  
5
“… Can’t we think of other names”: memo 2.11.71.

  
6
“There are rules …”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger.

  
7
Ruth Golden’s profile: Ruth Golden,
Times Talk
, July-August 1963.

  
8
“… new sections reinvigorated the
Times
 …”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger, 9.10.91.

  
9
“absolutely way-out crazy furniture”: Catledge, p. 223.

10
“I am not an expert on singing …”: memo, 10.12.81.

11
“Just once … I wished he had asked …”: author interview, John Leonard, 5.31.89.

12
“… incredible goobledegook …”: memo, 7.13.81.

13
“You put this bosom …”: memo, 11.23.77.

14
“So far this morning …”: memo, 3.5.71.

15
Influence exercised discreetly: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger, 12.8.90.

16
“When the new rooms open …”: memos, 7.6.78 and 12.6.76.

17
Employing Larry Lachman: memo exchange, 4.4.78, and 4.6.78.

18
“I gave my blood …”: author interview, James Goodale, 10.7.88.

19
“You know you’ve become …” Chris Argyris,
“Behind the Front Page: Organizational Self-Renewal in a Metropolitan Paper,”
(Jossey Bass, 1974), p. 37.

20
Oakes wanted to accommodate: author interview, John B. Oakes, 11.1.91.

21
“Don’t reopen old wounds”: author interview,
Times
senior editor, not for attribution.

22
“… I cast my vote …”: memo, 12.19.74.

23
“… happy to play Solomon …”: memo. 11.21.75. Also, author interview, A. O. Sulzberger 12.6.90.

  
1
Not every subject captured …: author interview,
Times
cultural reporter, not for attribution.

  
2
Oakes resolved to abolish: author interview, John B. Oakes, 11.1.91. See also John Oakes-Michael Straight exchange, letters to the editor,
New York Times
, 11.9.89 and 11.14.89.

  
3
Most news organizations … ignored: Edwin Diamond, “How the Press Played the Pentagon Papers,”
New York
magazine 8.16.71.

  
4
Mitchell had no idea: Griswold quoted in the
Washington Post
, 2.15.91. See also Stephen Bates,
If No News Send Rumors
(St. Martin’s Press, 1985), p. 157.

  
5
“It was a very scary thing …”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger.

  
6
Nixon later explained: Richard Nixon,
RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon
(Crosset & Dunlap, 1978), p. 509.

  
7
Leftist, Jewish
Times
: memo 6.6.78.

  
8
The
Times
antagonized “The Club”: author interview, John B. Oakes.

  
9
A good story but wrong: author interview, William Safire, 11.17.92.

10
Sulzberger’s two-part quiz: memo and replies, A. M. Rosenthal 12.9.74. MaxFrankel 12.11.74.

11
“I don’t believe in telling …”: author interview, A. O. Sulzberger.

12
“Punch heard from …”: author interview, on background.

13
“Stephen Birmingham suggested”: The article appeared in
MORE
, July-August 1976, as did Oakes’s reply, October 1976.

14
“… most malign events …”: author interview, A. H. Raskin, 1.26.89.

15
Serrin told to cover “work in America”: author interview, William Serrin, 10.16.89.

16
“… Johnny Oakes to blow the whistle”: author interview, on background. The Oakes article appeared on 6.19.88.

17
“Punch was making the transition …”: author interview, John Oakes.

18
“… a savaging of the board …”: author interview, A. H. Raskin.

19
“… there was a rightward shift …”: author interview, Tom Wicker, 10.16.89.